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PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS 



ATTENDING THE RECEPTION OF THE STATUE OF 



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ARMY OF THE REVOLUTION, 



PRESENTED TO THE 



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PROVIDENCE: 
PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY, PRINTERS TO THE STATE. 

1870. 



State of Eliode Island and Providence Plantations. 



In General Assembly, January /Session, A. D. 1866. 



Resolution authorizing the procuring of Statues of Roger Williams and 
Major-Genekal Nathanael Greene, to be placed in the Old Hall of 
the House of Representatives, in the National Capitol. 

Resolved, That Messrs. Olney Arnold, of North Providence, and Oliver C. Brow- 
nell, of Little Compton, on the part of the Senate ; and Messrs. Thomas Davis, 
of North Providence, and Richard W. Greene, of Warwick, on the part of the 
House of Representatives, be appointed a committee, authorized and empowered 
to procure suitable full-length statues of Roger Williams, the founder of this State, 
and of Major-General Nathanael Greene, its most distinguished Revolutionary 
soldier, to be placed in the Old Hall of the House of Representatives, in Washing- 
ton, under the provisions of the Act of Congress of July 2d, 186-i ; and that His 
Excellency the Governor be, and he is, hereby fully authorized and empowered to 
draw his order on the General Treasurer, in favor of said committee, for the expenses 
incurred by it, in carrying into effect the provisions of this resolution, and procuring 
the said statues. 



State of Rhode Island, Executive Department, > 
Providence, January 3, 1870. 3 

Sir : — In accordance with a resolution of Congress passed July 2, 1804, inviting 
each State to furnish for the Hall of the old House of Representatives two full- 
length marble statues " of deceased persons who have been citizens thereof and 
illustrious for their historic renown, from distinguished civic or military services, 
such as each State shall determine to be worthy of national commemoration," the 
State of Rhode Island, by a vote of its General Assembly, lias caused to be made 
two marble statues, one of Roger Williams, the founder of the State, the other of 
Major General Nathanael Greene, a distinguished officer of the Army of the Revo- 
lution. 

I have now the honor to inform you that the statue of Major-General Nathanael 
Greene, by Mr. H. K. Brown, an American artist, is finished and has been forwarded 
to Washington and delivered to the Architect of the Capitol. 
With high respect, I have the honor to remain, 

Your most obedient servant, 

SETH PADELFORI), 

Governor of Rhode Island. 
To the President of the Senate of the United States, Washingto?i, D. C. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 



REMARKS 

OF THE 

HON. H. B. ANTHONY OF RHODE ISLAND. 

" CHARLES SUMNER OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

" F. A. SAWYER. OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 

" J. E. MORRILL OF VERMONT. 

Delivered January, 1870. 



Mr. Anthony. — Mr. President, I am charged — we are charged, 
my colleagues of the two Houses of Congress and myself — by the 
Governor of the State which we represent with the honorable duty of 
presenting to Congress, in his name and in the name of the General 
Assembly and the people of the State of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations, a marble statue of Nathanael Greene. 

This statue has been placed in the old Hall of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, in pursuance of an act of Congress, by which that beauti- 
ful Chamber — itself rich in precious memories, is dedicated to historic 
valor, to patriotism, to statesmanship, to learning, to conspicuous 
excellence in all the elements that constitute national greatness. 

The heroic age of our country is enveloped in no fable, and the 
historian is not driven to doubtful miracles, to marvels and portents 
to add to the dignity of its origin, nor need he resort to fanciful 



The Statue of Major- General JVathanael Greene. 

legends to increase the interest of his narration. The stalwart men 
who planted the colonies from which these States arose, have left the 
authentic memorials of their principles and their actions, their trials 
and their triumphs. And the men whose valor achieved the inde- 
pendence of the country, and whose wisdom founded the institutions 
of the great Republic, are separated from us by so short a period, 
and one of such active historical inquiry, that their lives and charac- 
ters stand before us, almost as if they had lived in our daily presence. 

By the act of Congress referred to, each State of the Union is 
invited to place in the old Hall of the House of Representatives the 
statues of two of her illustrious citizens, already consecrated by death, 
who flourished in any period of her history. Rhode Island, which 
has earliest responded to the invitation, has selected for this honor 
two of her early heroes, one from the colonial and one from the revo- 
lutionary period. 

The first is Roger Williams, the great founder of the State, who 
first declared and maintained the principle at the foundation of all 
true civilization soul liberty, the right of every man to worship 
God according to his own conscience, responsible to no human laws, 
restrained by no interposition of Church or State. Of Roger Wil- 
liams there exists no portraiture, nor, so far as I am aware, any relia- 
ble description of his person or his features. He lives, not in the 
breathing marble or upon the glowing canvas, but immortal, in the 
everlasting principle which he first asserted and vindicated, and which, 
now recognized as an essential part of human society, was then 
regarded as nothing better than impracticable and mischievous fanati- 
cism. The State, unwilling that the great name of her founder 
should be unrepresented in this solemn assemblage of fame, has 
decreed in its commemoration an ideal statue, made from such scanty 
materials as tradition has supplied. She could do no more, and she 
felt that she should do no less. 

In this respect the memory of Greene is more fortunate. His 
statue is from authentic likenesses, and represents him "in his habit 
as he lived," in the full prime and vigor of his manhood, and in the 
height of his fame. It was executed by Henry Kirke Browne, whose 
name, already of high reputation, will receive fresh honors from his 
latest work. As a product of American art, it is confidently sub- 
mitted to the judgment of criticism. 



Its Reception by Congress. 7 

Mr. President, We have just passed through, not yet altogether 
through, the severest trial in our country's history. The popular 
heart beats hiffh with grateful admiration for valor and conduct 
proved in the field, for wisdom displayed in the cabinet. The country 
joyfully decorates her heroes with her freshest laurels, and heaps upon 
her soldiers and statesmen her selectest honors. We, Senators, inter- 
preting the will of the nation, have been prompt to render, from this 
Chamber, our contributions to the national gratitude. And it is right 
that it should be so. The Republic is stronger, as well as juster, 
when thus honoring her defenders, and presenting such rewards to 
the emulation of the rising generation. 

But while we render all due honor to living valor, while we proudly 
hand over to the Muse of History the mighty names that have illus- 
trated our recent annals, it is well to freshen the recollection of those 
whose fame she has long had in her keeping. While we celebrate 
the praises of those who have saved the country, let us not forget 
those without whom we should not have had a country to be saved ; 
those who, in the beginning, few in numbers, feeble in power, scant 
of resources, but strong in the principles which they had inherited 
with their oppressors, armed with the stern virtues that are born of 
difficulty and nurtured in peril and privation, dared to defy the might 
of England, who trod the pathway of victory with bleeding feet, and 
tore down the banner of conquest with hands that were wasted by 
famine. 

While the names of Vicksburg, Fort Donelson, and Roanoke 
Island, South Mountain, and Antietam, and Gettysburg, and Appo- 
mattox, should be kept fresh in the memory of the country, let not 
the earlier glories of Lexington, and Bunker Hill, of Princeton, and 
Trenton, and Stony Point, of Cowpens, and Eutaw Springs, of 
Saratoga, and Yorktown, be ever forgotten; nor yet those of Chip- 
pewa, Plattsburg, and New Orleans. 

Among those who, in the revolutionary period, won titles to the 
national gratitude never disavowed, he whose statue we have placed 
in the Capitol, stands, in the judgment of his contemporaries and by 
the assent of history, second only to the man who towers, without a 
peer, in the annals of America. 



8 The Statue of Major-General Nathanael Greene. 

I shall not attempt an analysis of his character, nor an enumera- 
tion of the great deeds upon which his fame securely rests ; nor shall 
I discuss that fertility of resources by which he supplied an army 
from an impoverished country, without disaffecting the population, 
that marvelous skill and conduct by which he wrung the results of 
victory from the very jaws of defeat, and with inferior forces drove 
and scattered before him a well-appointed, disciplined enemy, flushed 
with the insolence of conquest ; that self-reliance and persistence by 
which he refused every suggestion to abandon the southern cam- 
paign, and from the field of disaster declared, " I will recover the 
Carolinas, or perish in the attempt." How well he proved these 
words no idle boast, how well he kept his pledge I do not propose to 
repeat. All this has been recently done by an abler hand. A lite- 
rary monument, more durable than marble, destined to a permanent 
place in the literature of the language, has just been completed to 
his memory, by one who inherits his blood and his name, and whose 
pen is worthy of his grandfather's sword. 

But I cannot refrain from bringing to the attention of the Senate 
some passages from the eulogium pronounced upon General Greene, 
by Alexander Hamilton, before the Society of the Cincinnati. It 
was expected that Washington would be present, but illness kept him 
away ; but there were many there who had served with the orator 
and with the departed chief. No man was hetter fitted than Hamil- 
ton to discuss the character and services of Greene. No audience 
was better fitted to judge of the justness of the estimate which he 
put upon them. 

" From you who knew and loved him, I fear not the imputation of flattery or en- 
thusiasm, when I indulge an expectation that the name of Greene will at once 
awaken in your minds the images of whatever is noble and estimable in human na- 
ture. The fidelity of the portrait I shall draw will therefore have nothing to appre- 
hend from your sentence. But I dare not hope that it will meet with equal justice 
from all others ; or that it will entirely escape the cavils of ignorance and the shafts 
of envy. For high as this great man stood in the estimation of his country, the 
whole extent of his worth was little known. The situations in which he has 
appeared, though such as would have measured the faculties and exhausted the re- 
sources of men who might justly challenge the epithet of great, were yet incompe- 
tent to the full display of those various, rare, and exalted endowments, with which 
nature only now and then decorates a favorite, as if with intention to astonish 
mankind. 



Its Reception by Congress. 9 

"As a man, the virtues of Greene are admitted; as a patriot, he holds a place in 
the foremost rank ; as a statesman, he is praised ; as a soldier, he is admired. But 
in the two last characters, especially in the last but one, his reputation falls far 
below his desert. It required a longer life, and still greater opportunities, to have 
enabled him to exhibit, in full day, the vast, I had almost said, enormous powers of 
his mind. 

"The termination of the American war — not too soon for his wishes, nor for the 
welfare of his country, but too soon for his glory — put an end to his military 
career. The sudden termination of his life cut him off from those scenes which the 
progress of a new, immense and unsettled empire could not fail to open to the com- 
plete exertion of that universal and pervading genius which qualified him not less 
for the Senate than for the field. 

"In forming our estimate, nevertheless, of his character, we are not left to supposi- 
tion and conjecture, we are not left to vague indications or uncertain appearances, 
which partially might varnish or prejudice discolor. We have a succession of 
deeds, as glorious as they are unequivocal, to attest the greatness and perpetuate 
the honors of his name." 

"He was not long there before the discerning eye of the American Fabius marked 
him out as the object of his confidence. 

"His abilities entitled him to a preeminent share in the councils of his chief. He 
gained it, and he preserved it, amid all the checkered varieties of military vicissi- 
tudes, and in defiance of all the intrigues of jealous and aspiring rivals. 

"As long as the measures which conducted us safely through the first most critical 
stages of the war shall be remembered with approbation ; as long as the enterprises 
of Trenton and Princeton shall be regarded as the dawning of that bright day 
which afterward broke forth with such resplendent lustre ; as long as the almost 
magic operations of the remainder of the memorable winter, distinguished not 
more by these events than by the extraordinary spectacle of a powerful army 
straitened within narrow limits by the phantom of a military force, and never per- 
mitted to transgress those limits with impunity, in which skill supplied the place of 
means, and disposition was the substitute for an army ; as long, I say, as these 
operations shall continue to be the objects of curiosity and wonder, so long ought 
the name of Greene to be revered by a grateful country. 

"To attribute to him a portion of the praise which is due, as well to the formation 
as to the execution of the plans that effected these important ends, can be no dero- 
gation from that wisdom and magnanimity which knew how to select and embrace 
councils worthy of being pursued. 

"The laurels of a Henry were never tarnished by the obligations he owed and 
acknowledged to a Sully." 

- After reviewing his service in the Jersey battles, the eulogist 
passes to the southern campaign, where Greene, by the express selec- 
tion of Washington, was placed in command : 

"Henceforth we are to view him on a more exalted eminence. He is no longer to 
figure in an ambiguous or secondary light ; he is to shine forth the artificer of his 
own glory — the leader of armies and deliverer* of States ! * * * 



10 The Statue of Major- General Nathanael Greene. 

"Greene, without further delay, entered upon that busy, complicated and extraor- 
dinary scene which may trulj' be said to form a phenomenon in war — a scene which 
almost continually presents us, on the one hand, with victories ruinous to the vic- 
tors ; on the other, with retreats beneficial to the vanquished ; which exhibits to our 
admiration a commander almost constantly obliged to relinquish the field to his ad- 
versary, yet as constantly making acquisitions upon him ; beaten to-day ; to-mor- 
row, without a blow, compelling the conqueror to remove the very object for Avhich 
he had conquered, and in a manner to fly from the very foe which he had subdued." 

Speaking of the bold determination of Greene after the battle of 
Guilford Court House to return to South Carolina, instead of going 
to the rescue of Virginia, threatened by a junction of Cornwallis and 
Arnold, Hamilton says : 

" This was one of those strokes that denote superior genius and constitute the 
sublime of war. It was Scipio leaving Hannibal in Italy to overcome him at Car- 
thage ! 

"The success was answerable to the judicious boldness of the design. The 
enemy were divested of their acquisitions in South Carolina and Georgia witli a 
rapidity which, if not ascertained, would be scarcely creditable. In the short space 
of two months all their posts in the interior of the country were reduced. The 
perseverance, courage, enterprise, and resource displayed by the American Gener- 
al in the course of these events commanded the admiration even of his enemies. 
In vain was he defeated in one mode of obtaining his object; another was instant- 
ly substituted that answered the end. In vain was he repulsed from before a besieg- 
ed fortress ; he immediately found other means of compelling its defenders to 
relinquish their stronghold. Where force failed, address and stratagem still won 
the prize." 

Washington measured his words with care and was chary of 
praise. In a letter to Greene, upon his retirement from the office of 
Quartermaster General, he wrote : 

"You have conducted the various duties of it with capacity and diligence, entire- 
ly to my satisfaction, and as far as I have had an opportunity of knowing with the 
strictest integrity. When you were prevailed on to undertake the office in March, 
1778, it was in great disorder and confusion, and by extraordinary exertions you so 
arranged it as to enable the Army to take the field the moment it was necessary, 
and to move with rapidity after the enemy when they left Philadelphia. From that 
period to the present time your exertions have been equally great. They have 
appeared to me to be the result of system, and to have been well calculated to pro- 
mote the interests and honor of your country. In fine, I cannot but add that the 
States have had in you, in my opinion, an able, upright, and diligent servant." 

General Greene died at the age of forty-four. What might the 
oountry have reasonably expected from the full life of the man who, 



Its Reception by Congress. 11 

at so early an age, had accomplished so much? The administrative 
qualities that he manifested throughout his whole military service 
designated him for a great civil career which, probably, would not 
have stopped short of the highest honors of the Republic. But a 
true life is measured by what it accomplishes, not by the time that 
it lingers. He lived long enough to secure for his name a place high 
on the enduring records of his country, forever in the affections of 
the American people. 

On the 8th of August, 1786, Congress, on a report of a commit- 
tee consisting of Mr. Lee, Mr. Pettit, and Mr. Carrington, adopted 
the following resolutions ; 

"Resolved, That a monument be erected to the memory of Nathanael Greene, 
esq., at the seat of the Federal Government with the following inscription : ' Sacred 
to the memory of Nathanael Greene, esq., a native of the State of Rhode Island, 
who died on the 19th of June, 1786, late major general in the service of the United 
States, and commander of their Army in the southern department. 

" The United States, in Congress assembled, in honor of his patriotism, valor 
and ability, have erected this monument. 

" Resolved, That the Board of Treasury take order for the execution of the fore- 
going resolution." 

This measure of national gratitude was not carried out. 

We think that we shall not be charged with undue State pride if 
we submit that the marble which we now present to you is a worthy 
commencement of the collection which it inaugurates, and which is to 
hand down to the future the glories of the past, the Valhalia of 
America. Others will be placed by its side, worthy of the august 
companionship. The future citizen will walk with patriotic awe 
among th^ effigies of his country's grandeur, and gather inspiration, 
as he surveys their venerated forms. States yet to be admitted into 
the Union will crowd yonder Hall with the statue's of their founders, 
defenders, and benefactors, till the great Dome of the Capitol shall 
be too small to cover the silent assembly of our immortal dead. 

I send to the Chair a letter from the Governor of Rhode Island, 
which I ask to have read. 

The Secretary read as follows : 

State of Rhode Island, Executive Department, > 
Providence, January 3, 1870. 5 

Sir : — In accordance with a resolution of Congress, passed July 2, 1864, inviting 
each State to furnish for the Hall of the old House of Representatives "two full- 



12 The Statue of Major- General Nathanael Greene. 

length marble statues of deceased persons who have been citizens thereof, and illus- 
trious for their renown, or from civic or military services, such as each State shall 
determine to be worthy of national commemoration," the State of Rhode Island, by 
a vote of its General Assembly, has caused to be made two marble statues, one of 
Roger Williams, the founder of the State, the other of Major General Nathanael 
Greene, a distinguished officer of the Army of the Revolution. 

I have now the honor to inform you that the statue of Major General Nathanael 
Greene, by Mr. H. K. Browne, an American artist, is finished, and has been for- 
warded to Washington and delivered to the Architect of the Capitol. 
With high respect, I have the honor to remain 

Your most obedient servant, 

SETH PADELFORD, 
To the President of the Senate of the United States, Washington, D. C. 

Mr. Sumner. — Mr. President, in moving the acceptance of the 
statue of Major General Greene, I send to the Chair a joint resolution 
the consideration of which I ask now without any previous notice ; 
and in moving it I will add that I have followed the precedents in 
such cases, especially the joint resolution moved by John Quincy 
Adams in the House of Representatives, which I now have before me. 

The Vice President. — The Senator from Massachusetts asks 
unanimous consent to introduce for present consideration a joint reso- 
lution, which will be read. 

The Secretary read as follows : 

A Resolution Accepting the Statue of Major General Greene. 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Congress be presented to the Governor, and 
through him to the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
for the statue of Major General Greene, whose name is so honorably identified with 
our revolutionary history ; that this work of art is accepted in the name of the 
nation and assigned a place in the old Hall of the House of Representatives, already 
set aside by act of Congress for the statues of eminent citizens ; and that a copy of 
this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives, be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations. 

The Vice President. Unless objected to, the joint resolution 
will be considered as read the first and second time, and is before the 
Senate as in Committee of the Whole. 

Mr. Sumner. How brief is life ; how long is art ! Nathanael 
Greene died at the age of forty-four, and now Congress receives his 
marble statue, destined to endure until this Capitol crumbles to dust. 
But art lends its longevity only to those whose lives are extended by 



Its Reception by Congress. 13 

deeds. Therefore is the present occasion an attestation of the fame 
that has been won. 

Beyond his own deserts, Greene was fortunate during life in the 
praise of Washington, who wrote of " the singular abilities which 
that officer possesses," and then again fortunate after death in the 
praise of Hamilton, whose remarkable tribute is no ordinary record. 
He has been fortunate since in his biographer, whose work promises 
to be classical in our literature. And now he is fortunate again in a 
statue, which, while taking an honorable place in American art, is the 
first to be received in our Pantheon. Such are the honors of patriot 
service. 

Among the generals of the Revolution, Greene was next after 
Washington. His campaign at the South showed military genius of 
no common order. He saved the South. Had he lived to take part 
in the national Government, his character and judgment must have 
secured for him an eminent post of service. Unlike his two great 
associates, Washington and Hamilton, his life was confined to war, 
but the capacities which he manifested while in command gave assur- 
ance that he would have excelled in civil life. His resources in the 
field would have been the same in the council chamber. 

Of Quaker extraction Greene was originally a Quaker. The 
Quaker became a soldier and commander of armies. Such was the 
requirement of the epoch. Should a soldier and commander of 
armies in our day accept those ideas which enter into the life of the 
Quaker the change would only be in harmony with those principles 
which must soon prevail, ordaining peace and good will among men. 

Looking at his statue, with military coat and with sword in hand, 
I seem to see his early garb beneath. The Quaker general could never 
have been other than the friend of peace. 

Standing always in that beautiful Hall, the statue will be a perpet- 
ual though silent orator. The marble will speak ; nor is it difficult 
to divine the lesson it must teach. He lived for his country and 
his whole country ; nothing less. Born in the North, he died in 
the South, which he had made his home. The grateful South honor- 
ed him as the North had already done. His life exhibits the beauty 
and the reward of patriotism. How can his marble speak except 
for country in all its parts, at all points of the compass? It was for 
the whole country that he drew his sword of " ice-brook temper." So 



14 The Statue of Major-General Nathanael Greene. 

also for the whole country was drawn that other sword in these 
latter days. And yet there was a difference between the two occa- 
sions easy to state. 

Our country's cause for which Greene contended was National 
Independence. Our country's cause, which has recently prevailed in 
bloodiest war, was Liberty and Equality, the declared heritage of all 
mankind. The first war was for separation from the mother country 
or, according to the terms of the Declaration, "That these United 
Colonies are and of right ought to be Free and Independent States," 
the object being elevated by the great principles announced. The 
second war was for the establishment of these great principles, with- 
out which republican government is a name and nothing more. But 
both were for country. Perhaps the larger masses, with the larger 
scale of military operations, in the latter may eclipse the earlier, and 
it is impossible not to see that a war for Liberty and Equality, making 
the promises of the Declaration a reality and giving to mankind an 
irresistible example, is loftier in character than a war for separation. 
If hereafter Greene finds rivals near his statue they will be those 
who represented our country's cause in its latter peril and its larger 
triumph. Just in proportion as ideas are involved is conflict elevated, 
especially if those ideas concern the Equal Rights of all. 

Greene died at the South, and nobody knows the place of his 
burial. He lies without epitaph or tombstome. To-day a grateful 
country writes his epitaph and gives him a monument in the Capitol. 

The Vice President. The question is on agreeing to the resolu- 
tion. 

The resolution was adopted unanimously. 

Mr. Sawyer. Mr. President, it is far from my hope that I shall 
add to what has been so ably said by the honorable Senators from 
Rhode Island and Massachusetts anything worthy of comparison 
with their eloquent words or of the fame of the illustrious man 
whose statue has been placed in the Capitol of the nation whose inde- 
pendence he contributed so largely to establish. But it would not be 
fitting that this occasion should pass without some tribute to General 
Greene's eminent character and services from one who, however hum- 
bly, represents in part on this floor a State from whose soil in our 
revolutionary struggle the taint of the enemy's tread was removed 



Its Reception by Congress. 15 

under his masterly leadership. That the voice of that State may not 
be unheard in the hour when we are calling to mind the obligations 
we owe to one of the greatest and purest characters in our early his- 
tory, is my apology for occupying the attention of the Senate. 

The honorable Senator from Rhode Island has well said, " the 
heroic age of our country is enveloped in no fable." Nations of an- 
tiquity loved to trace the beginnings of their history to gods and 
goddesses, or to heroes whose divine birth or patronage gave them 
superhuman powers. The mists of myth and fable shut out from 
their view the current of real events which in their progress devel- 
oped institutions and governments. To no such mythical or fabulous 
personages do we seek to trace our national origin. The clear light 
of authentic history shines over every stage of our national develop- 
ment, and we see through media which neither exaggerate nor distort 
those grand and heroic characters who laid the foundations of this 
now imposing fabric of free government. We see them through 
trial and suffering and self-sacrifice, through disaster and defeat, 
through long years of poverty, privation and devotion, waging 
unequal war with a mighty nation, and finally, under the providence 
of God, achieving national independence. We see every step they 
take to secure upon safe foundations the structure they build. We 
see them bind it together and hedge it about by the strong bands and 
solid bulwarks of liberty, equality and justice. And we point with 
lofty pride to the results of their toils, their wisdom, and their patri- 
otism. As the nation grows greater, as the plans and purposes of its 
fathers are more completely developed by the agency of institutions 
they planted ; as the exceptions to the law of equality, liberty, and 
justice which they found it impossible to avoid, one by one disappear 
under the application of the principles they enunciated, their sacri- 
fices, their virtues, and their foresight shine with a purer light, and 
the heart of the republic pays them a sincerer homage. 

There is no tribute to their memories so honorable and so fitting as 
the practice of the virtues they taught and exemplified. The adop- 
tion of their principles ; the imitation of their examples, so far as 
they are adapted to the time and circumstances in which we live ; the 
embodiment in the national character of the high and noble traits 
which distinguished their characters, would be the highest homage 
we could pay to their memories. 



16 The Statue of Major-General Nathanael Greene. 

But signs and tokens, figures and images, are so often used in 
calling to mind ideas which without such memorials would too often 
grow dim and fade away. Thus we erect statues to the illustrious 
dead. We hang in our public places portraits of those who have 
honored and served the nation, and whom the nation honors, that the 
frequent sight of their forms and features may impress anew each 
day on our minds the lesson of their lives. Thus would we remind 
the busy throng who crowd these halls and corridor.s, of the heroic 
past, and encourage them to imitate the characters of those who 
made it heroic. The marble from which the cunning hand of the 
sculptor has chiseled, and the canvas on which the painter has limned 
the features of the patriot and statesman, are no longer mute, but 
speak with beneficent power to multitudes of those whose eyes never 
saw and never can see their mortal forms. To few of those whose 
names are on the roll of revolutionary fame is it more becoming that 
the honors of an enduring monument should be paid than to Na- 
thanael Greene. 

Nurtured under the influences of a sect who looked upon all war 
as sinful, he could not believe that the claims of his country were in- 
consistent with his duty to his God. His ardent patriotism broke 
the shackles which the religious faith of his fathers had sought to im- 
pose on his young mind, and his country's need was the call to her 
defense which he obeyed with alacrity and zeal. 

Early placed in an important position in the Continental armies, he 
gave his whole mind and heart to his work, and only laid off his har- 
ness when the good fight had been won. The retreat through New 
Jersey, the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandy wine, Germantown, 
and Monmouth, all bore witness to his coolness, his bravery, his 
fidelity, and his sagacity. In the responsible and arduous duties of 
quartermaster general, his method, his energy, his foresight, and his 
integrity, made themselves felt through the whole service. Entering 
upon those duties when that branch of the service was in a state of 
disorganization and confusion, his loyal enthusiasm and his self-deny, 
ing patriotism overcame all obstacles, made order and system succeed 
disorder and inefficiency, and added largely to the effective power of 
the army. And when, influenced by the calumny of his enemies, the 
Continental Congress ordered an investigation into his administration, 
the committee who made it were compelled to report that it had given 



Its Reception by Congress. 17 

hem "a unanimous conviction of his ability, fidelity and zeal." 
But it is no disparagement to his great services elsewhere to say that 
the theatre of his greatest triumphs was on the soil of the Caro- 
linas. Ordered to the command of the southern army, when, as he 
says, " it was rather a shadow than a substance, having only an im- 
aginary existence ;" in a territory almost exclusively in possession of 

he British troops ; his own men disheartened by previous defeats, 
ill-fed, ill-clothed, rarely paid, if at all, frequently changed by the 
States which furnished them, thus throwing upon the service all 
those evils inevitably incident to the use of raw recruits for field 
duty ; confronted almost constantly by a force superior in numbers, 
organization, equipment, discipline and expei-ienee, and officered by 
men bred to the profession of arms, Greene's genius overcame all 
these disadvantages, often gained victories, and though often defeated 
drew from defeat the fruits of victory. His power in keeping up the 
morale of an army composed as his was, under all the privations to 
which they were subject, can only be accounted for by the influence 
upon officers and men of a character in all respects admirable and 
remarkable. 

It is not necessary to follow him through the memorable cam- 
paigns which drove the enemy from the soil of North and South 
Carolina and ended the war in those colonies. Eutaw Springs, 
Hobkirk's Hill, Guilford Court-House, Camden, Ninety-six are house- 
hold words in the Carolinas, always suggesting the heroic sacrifices of 
Greene and his lieutenants. The story of his advances and his retreats, 
his victories and his defeats, his long-continued and patiently-borne 
sufferings, and of his final and complete triumph, are written on the 
hearts of all true Carolinians and all true Americans. His fame is 
one of the nation's rich treasures ; his life and services are a part of 
the nation's glory ; his memory is cherished in the nation's heart ; 
and the honor in which it is held is fitly symbolized by the erection 
of a statue here in the Capitol. The States of North and South 
Carolina and Georgia honored themselves by bestowing upon him 
large gifts in his life-time. Fortunate was it that Rhode Island had 
such a son to contribute to the band of our national benefactors ; 
that she was able to add a star of such magnitude to that galaxy of 
luminaries whose characters illustrated our Revolutionary era ; and 
it is an honor to her that she now r places under this roof the image of 

2 



18 The Statue of Major-General JSfathanael Greene. 

one who, though her citizen, belonged in the clay of its trial, and will 
for all time belong, to the Republic. 

Mr. Morrill, of Vermont. Mr. President, I rise with some 
reluctance, and yet it may not be a violation of good taste for me to 
add a few words to the very appropriate and eloquent remarks of the 
Senator from Rhode Island and the Senators who followed, as I may 
be held somewhat i*esponsible for originating the idea that the grand 
old Hall of the House of Representatives, the finest Hall certainly in 
our whole country, or perhaps in any other, should be set apart and 
dedicated to the sacred purpose of holding forever the forms of those 
who while living, most largely distinguished themselves in the history 
of our country and of their respective States. The Hall, hemmed 
in between the two new Halls of Congress so as to make it impracti- 
cable to devote it to any useful object except as a mere place for doc- 
umentary lumber, it was thought to be desirable to rescue from such 
desecration, and preserve its admirable and artistic proportions for 
higher and nobler objects. It has the prestige of having been the 
place where occurred some of the most remarkable debates in our 
history, and where many of the statesmen of young America first 
exhibited their power and eloquence. It is appropriate to the object 
to which it has been consecrated and to which the State of Rhode 
Island so auspiciously makes its contribution. This is the first offer- 
ing, and is entirely worthy of the patriotic and generous State from 
which it comes, both as being a proper selection of an eminent name 
to be commemorated, and, so far as I am able to judge, as a most 
creditable work of art — such as the American people may look upon 
with a large measure of satisfaction and delight, and without that 
fear and trembling which some specimens about us are apt to excite. 
At length we have at least one more work — or, including Stone's 
Hamilton, two — besides the marvelously beautiful conception of the 
fio-ure of Time in the old Hall, which does not deserve to be driven 
out by a scourge of small cords. 

In the Old World their public edifices are crowded with paintings 
and statuary, representing incidents and persons prominent in the 
history of each nation, the facts being made to glitter with every 
embellishment of genius ; and it cannot be doubted that the pride of 
the people is thus powerfully invoked to perpetuate the solidity of 
their governments, though founded, as we believe, on principles 



Its Reception by Congress. 19 

entirely and fundamentally wrong. But may we not legitimately in- 
voke the pride of our people in behalf of the national capital of a 
government founded on principles entirely right? It cannot be ques- 
tioned that the carrying out of the design embodied in the statutes, 
adopted as it was by so general a concurrence of the members of 
each House of Congress, will tend to cement together the great sis- 
terhood of States. No partisan feeling can ever mar or mutilate the 
purpose that each State will have uppermost, which must be to pre- 
sent its best representative men. The image and superscription of 
Jackson or Clay, Hamilton or Madison, Lincoln or Douglas, in this 
place, will all be equally welcome and equally current. 

When other States in due time shall follow the lead of to-day, as 
I do not doubt they soon will follow, we shall have a collection of 
statues representing a class of men among a peculiar people, 
deservedly distinguished in their day and generation, such as the rolls 
of few nations can present. Each State will vie with every other, 
not grudging the small expense, in offering a work of art that will 
shed an additional lustre upon the State as well as upon the memory 
of the person made to stand forth in a form to endure forever ; and 
the stars thus assembled will form a constellation of the foremost 
magnitude and brilliancy. Let the old Hall be graced with but half 
a dozen works of such beauty as the one here this day uncovered, 
illustrative of some of the glories in our civil or military history, 
and the sixty odd other statues that will be entitled to entrance will 
be soon found knocking at the doors for admission. Instead of que- 
rying as to whether all the States will furnish their quota of two, or 
even any, the question most likely to perplex the future will be, 
Shall any State have place for more ? 

Our lifetime has been but brief, but there is not a single State 
which cannot present more than one jewel in its past history which 
it sacredly guards as the very apple of the eye, and which, when 
fairly brought out to be gazed upon by the world, might not chal- 
lenge the admiration of the nation, and inspire every citizen with a 
new love for the copartners of a perpetual Union and with a higher 
and nobler love of our country and our countrymen. 

Our gratitude is, then, due to the gallant little State of Rhode 
Island, for being once more foremost in the field. 



Irnatbiugs in % ^omt ai |kprmntatibm 



REMARKS 

OF THE 

HON. A. H. TANNER OF NEW YORK. 

" T. A. JENCKES OF RHODE ISLAND. 

" B. F. WHITTEMORE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 

" C. L. COBB OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

" H. W. SLOCUM OF NEW YORK. 

" JOHN BEATTY OF OHIO. 

Delivered January 31, 1870. 



The business on the Speaker's table was the following concurrent 
resolution of the Senate, accepting the statue of Major-General 
Greene : 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Congress be presented to the Governor, and 
through him to the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
for the statue of Major General Greene, whose name is so honorably identified with 
our revolutionary history ; that this work of art is accepted in the name of the 
nation and assigned a place in the old Hall of the House of Representatives, already 
set aside by act of Congress for the statues of eminent citizens ; and that a copy of 
this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives, be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations. 

Mr. Tanner. — I move that the House concur in the resolution. 
Mr. Speaker, the old Hall of the House of Representatives has 
been dedicated by act of Congress to the commemoration of civic and 



22 The Statue of Major- General Nathanael Greene. 

military virtues by art. The State of Rhode Island is the first of 
the States to erect in this noble Hall a statue, wrought from purest 
marble, of one of her most illustrious citizens, who, in the early his- 
tory of this Republic, in battle and in council, illustrated the valor, 
the wisdom, and the patriotism of the American soldier and the 
American statesman. Our history is rich with the records of such 
men ; but the common consent of the American people has assigned 
to General Nathanael Greene a place among the very first of those 
great men who have thus adorned either the earlier or the later periods 
of our history. It is no part of my purpose to pronounce his eulo- 
gium. His great deeds and his greater character are recorded in the 
annals of his country's history, and a grateful people will not permit 
them to pass from the memories of men. When time shall have 
dimmed the lustre of this marble and have marred the beauty of its 
outlines, the character of this great man will shine with ever increas- 
ing brightness, and every line of its majestic proportions preserve 
their original grace and dignity to excite the interest and arouse the 
emulation of posterity. 

Mr. Speaker, I send to the Clerk's desk, a letter from the Governor 
of the State of Rhode Island upon this subject, and ask that it be read. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

State of Rhode Island, Executive Department, ) 
Providence, January 3, 1870. 3 

Sir : — In accordance with a resolution of Congress, passed July 2, 1864, inviting 
each State to furnish for the Hall of the old House of Representatives "two full- 
length marhle statues " of deceased persons who have been citizens thereof and 
illustrious for their historic renown, from distinguished civic or military services, 
such as each State shall determine to be worthy of national commemoration," the 
State of Rhode Island, by a vote of its General Assembly, has caused to be made 
two marble statues, one of Roger Williams, the founder of the State, the other of 
Major General Nathanael Greene, a distinguished officer of the Army of the Revo- 
lution. 

I have now the honor to inform you that the statue of Major General Nathanael 
Greene, by Mr. H. K. Brown, an American artist, is finished and has been forwarded 
to Washington and delivered to the architect of the Capitol. 
With high respect, I have the honor to remain, 

Your most obedient servant, 

SETII PADELFORD, 

Governor of Rhode Island. 
The Honorable the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 



Its Reception by Congress. 23 

Mr. Jenckes. — It has become the pleasant duty of the Repre- 
sentatives" of Rhode Island to offer to Congress in response to the 
joint resolution inviting such presentation, the statue of her illustrious 
son, the great soldier and general of the war of independence, 
Nathanael Greene. 

It is the first contribution to that hall of statuary in which the 
States have been invited to place the images of their distinguished 
men. That old Hall, which had already attained historic fame as 
the place of meeting of the Representatives of the people, having 
given place to the one we now occupy in the growth of the nation, 
was wisely dedicated and set apart to receive and retain the forms of 
the great representative men who have preceded us, sculptured in 
enduring marble. The living generations and those who represent 
them in these Halls come and go ; but hereafter the forum which has 
been relinquished by the living will be filled with the images of the 
great ones who have gone on before, a silent yet eloquent company, 
teaching the great lessons of our country's history, and inspiriting the 
patriotism of all who shall come into their presence. 

Rhode Island has selected General Greene to represent her in this 
august assembly of the past, because his life and deeds belong to the 
nation. Though born and reared in the smallest and most clannish 
of the Commonwealths which united in achieving independence and 
then merged in the Union of the States under the Constitution, he 
never had a thought which was not as broad as the Republic. He 
was among the first to recommend a national declaration of inde- 
pendence. Wherever he served, the whole weight of his mind, of 
his character, and of his example was given to overbear the petty 
jealousies and rivalries of the several colonies. 

"For my part," he wrote from the camp of observation before 
Boston, in 1775, "I feel the cause and not the place. I would as 
soon go to Virginia as stay here." He felt from the beginning, and 
he was one whose service dated from the day of Lexington, that the 
object of the war was not merely to secure the separation of the 
Colonies from Great Britain. He was one of the few to whom the 
great future and destiny of the new nation were revealed. He wrote 
from the camp before Boston, in the interval between Lexington and 



24 The Statue of Major-General JVathanael Greene. 

Bunker Hill, with all the enthusiasm of a young soldier, and yet with 
the presience of a statesman : 

"America must raise an empire of permanent duration, supported upon the grand 
pillars of truth, freedom and religion, based upon justice and defended by her own 
patriotic sons." 

And he adds in the same letter — 

"Permit me, then, to recommend from the sincerity of my heart, ready at all 
times to bleed in my country's cause, a declaration of independence, and call upon 
the world and the great God who governs it to witness the necessity, propi'iety and 
rectitude thereof." 

All his suggestions and recommendations were in favor of a 
national policy and national action, for the achievement of national 
independence, and the creation of a national republic which should 
be a power among the nations of the earth. His entire correspond- 
ence breathes with this national spirit. In the character of statesman 
as well as soldier, he is entitled to a place among the nation's worthies. 

" In this character," said Hamilton — 

"His reputation falls far below his desert. It required a longer life and still 
greater opportunities to have enabled him to exhibit in full day the vast, I had almost 
said the enormous powers of his mind." * * * * "The sudden ter- 
mination of his life cut him off from those scenes, which the progress of a new, 
immense and unsettled empire could not fail to open the complete exertion of that 
universal and pervading genius which qualified him not less for the senate than for 
the field." 

These qualities entitle him to a place in the Capitol, although his 
fame rests chiefly upon his career as a soldier. A narration of this 
career would be a history of the war for independence. That is aside 
from our purpose now, which is simply to introduce and present his 
statue. It was the first duty of the artist to know all this ; to have 
studied the whole life of his subject ; to have become familiar with 
his form and presence ; to have become acquainted with his thoughts 
and impulses, and to know their expression in his lineaments and 
bearing ; and to have selected that moment when he may have been 
supposed to have been transfigured by the thoughts, the purposes, the 
inspiration of his life, and to transfer his whole nature and character 
as well as form and feature to the enduring marble. 

There were many and grave occasions in his career in which his 



Its Reception by Congress. 25 

person and his conduct were conspicuous, and when his features must 
have borne the strongest impressions of his character. And it seems 
to me as I look upon the masterly work of the sculptor in the place 
where it now stands, when the slanting rays of light bring out in 
bold relief the vigor and the spirit of the attitude, the high purpose 
and fixed resolve shown in the features, the strong and deep lines of 
thought in the brow, and leave in dark shadow the sad, sweet, and 
even tender expression of the emotions which welled up from the 
great heart of the hero, that the artist has given him to us at the 
crowning moment of his great and earnest life. 

He is not reproduced to us as when, high in hope, he led to the 
army of observation around Boston the regiments of Rhode Island, 
which were styled in the reports from Washington's headquarters 
" the best disciplined and appointed in the whole American Army ;" 
nor as when he led the corps which, though second in place, was the 
first in position at Trenton ; nor as he covered the slow retreat at the 
Brandy wine ; nor as at Germantown, after having gained all that 
was expected of the wing of the army which he commanded, he 
looked around as the fog lifted and found the rest of the army broken 
and dispersed ; nor yet, as at Monmouth, when his sure judgment 
caused the movement, not authorized by his orders, which restored 
the doubtful field and regained all that Lee's disobedience had lost ; 
nor as at Springfield, when for the first time in separate command, 
he had the pleasure and the pride of seeing the enemy retreat from 
his well-chosen positions ; nor as when with bowed head and tearful 
eye he signed the report of the court-martial which decreed the doom 
of Andre ; nor with the severe front with which he met the British 
envoy and general who came to remonstrate against that doom ; nor 
yet with the look of indignation with which he took command at 
West Point, upon the flight of Arnold, the traitor; nor as when he 
remonstrated with the French admiral for his contemplated desertion 
of the movement for the capture of Rhode Island ; nor as when he 
received that letter from Washington, tender and touching, notwith- 
standing its formal and official character, in which he is informed 
that he has been designated by his commander-in-chief as the com- 
mander of the southern army ; nor as after his masterly manoeuvres 
in the pi'esence of Lord Cornwallis and his army, he saw victory 



26 The Statue of Major- General Nathanael Greene. 

slipping from his grasp at Guilford ; nor as when he found on the day 
after that battle that the substantial results of victory were his ; but 
rather as when he had halted from the pursuit of the army of Corn- 
wallis, and resting upon the banks of Deep river, he looked over the 
whole field of the continental warfare, and came to that grand resolve 
which, after incessant fighting, restored the Carolinas and Georgia to 
the Union ; when, with his back to the lost field and yet victorious 
campaign of Guilford, he left Cornwallis to receive his fate from 
other hands, and looked along the fair land which lay between the 
mountains and the sea, then overrun by the enemy, and vowed that 
it should be restored to his country or that himself should perish. 

We see him as the whole scope of that great determination is 
becoming clear to his mind ; as he stood before he announced that 
determination to Washington in one of the simplest and grandest let- 
ters in any language. He does not disguise nor is he appalled by 

the high nature of his resolve or the dangers involved in its execu- 
te © 

tion. If he had met his death, this letter would have been sufficient 
for his fame. The undaunted spirit there expressed, the alacrity 
with which he draws his sword in what he knows and admits to be 
an unequal contest, and with which he enters upon " a manoeuvre 
which will be critical and dangerous, and in which the troops will be 
exposed to every hardship," and the resolute yet sad and thoughtful 
air with which such a movement must be commenced — all these were 
comprehended by the artist and are seen and almost live and breathe 
in the statue. The clear vision of all the desperate fights of these 
campaigns, the long, weary marches, the toils, the hardships, the 
discouragements, the reverses and the triumphs, seem to be pre- 
figured in that expression and attitude. 
Of this movement Hamilton has said : 

" This was one of those strokes that denote superior genius and constitute the 
sublime in war. 'Twas Scipio leaving Hannibal in Italy to overcome him at Car- 
thage ! " 

When this eulogium was spoken, the comparison was, perhaps, 
the most striking to be found in history. But in our times we can 
see in it a likeness to a movement more brilliant than that of Scipio. 
We view it as the precursor of that grand " march to the sea," upon 
which rests the fame of one of the first of living generals. 



Its Reception by Congress. 2< 

But General Greene cannot be said to have been a favorite of for- 
tune. His successes were wrestecl from her, not yielded. He should 
have won the Guilford battle ; but while compelled to relinquish the 
field by the conduct of some of his inexperienced troops, the next 
morning found him preparing his army for a fresh encounter, and 
the nominal victor preparing his for a retreat. He gave battle to 
Lord Rawdon, at Hobkirk's Hill, and seemingly lost, but gained the 
results of a victory in the enemy's evacuation of Camden. He 
beseiged and assaulted the fort at Ninety-Six, and was repulsed, but 
gained all that he contended for, except prisoners, in its immediate 
evacuation. He did not entirely succeed at Eutaw, but in that drawn 
battle the power of Great Britain in the Carolinas and Georgia was 
broken, and the British armies were soon compelled to yield those 
States, the prize of victory, to the American forces and their resolute 
leader. 

His military successes have sometimes been disparaged on account 
of the small numbers of his troops ; but his operations were on a 
larger area than had ever before been the field of civilized warfare. 
His military district embraced all the territory south of Pennsylvania. 
The regular force under his command could hardly be called more 
than the nucleus of an army, which was sometimes swelled into 
respectable numbers, but not reinforced by bands of militia who came 
and went almost as they pleased. He had opposed to him the best 
generals and the best appointed armies of Great Britain. The 
enemy had complete command of the ports, the shores and the sea; 
he had compelled the surrender of two armies and of all fortified 
places ; yet from the time Greene took the command of the remnants 
of the southern army the foot of the invader never rested upon the 
soil of the Carolinas outside of his fortifications, and even these he 
was at last compelled to evacuate. 

The character and qualities of mind that brought about these great 
results with such slender means, have received expression from the 
consummate skill of the artist. We see that greatness of soul which 
won the admiration and affection of the people to whom he came 
both as conqueror and deliverer, and from whom he was compelled 
to subsist his armies while restoring them to their liberties and their 
rights : that resolution which surmounted all obstacles ; that courage 



28 The Statue of Major-General Nathanael Greene. 

which was equal both to the leading of a charge and to the declining 
of a challenge ; that buoyancy of spirit and confidence in resources 
which no disappointment could cast down, which no disaster could 
daunt, no reverse disspirit, and no defeat entirely destroy ; that "noble 
frankness " which disarmed personal hostility, and made envy and 
jealousy ashamed ; that unconquerable energy which never flagged or 
grew weary, and that hopefulness which believed in nothing but suc- 
cess, and which was one of the greatest means of attaining it. 
Type of that brave race among whom he grew up and whose repre- 
sentative men have gained rewards and honors not in war alone, we 
present him to you as one eminently fit to be placed in the company 
of those great men whose lives and deeds are the pride and glory of 
the American people. 

Mr. Whittemore. Mr. Speaker, I cannot hope nor do I attempt 
to use the utterances the gentleman preceding me has been inspired 
with as he marshaled our memories to pay their homage to one so 
noble, so worthy a nation's acclaim. I come with the tribute of a 
State which owes so much to the patriotism of New Engtand's son, 
the valor of his arm, the unswerving integrity of his soul, the irre- 
sistible strength of his purpose, his devotion to his country. South 
Carolina bows in reverence to the name of Nathanael Greene. 

As we turn to the epochs of the past, its scenes, its hours of his- 
toric moment, and stand among the giants that hewed the way for 
our national progress, that stirred the hearts of stern and sturdy col- 
onists, that moved to deeds all pregnant with renown the pioneers of 
a continental growth, and behold the march of the gathering heroes, 
who with invincible emotions and sacrificial vows nerved the popular 
will and arm in defense of our sacred altars, our natal fires — as we 
stand amid the forms of Washington, Putnam, Stark, Trumbull, 
and their fearless compatriots, no one is more conspicuous than he 
whose services contributed so largely to the establishment of Ameri- 
can independence, Major-General Nathanael Greene, whose statue 
Rhode Island, in response to the nation's invitation, has placed in the 
old Hall of the House of Representatives, where clustered associa- 
tions of national greatness linger. 

Born at a time when we were approaching a climax in our stirring 
history, educated in the school of strictest integrity, making the Bible 



Its Reception by Congress. 29 

his earliest guide and text-book, nerving his arm and strengthening 
his muscles at the blacksmith's forge, storing his mind while the iron 
was heating with the sublime demonstrations of science, buoyant in 
spirits, firm in resolve, uncompromising in principle, with a vigorous 
constitution, methodical and studious, never neglecting the manual 
or mental task, bold and original in his conceptions, deliberate and 
cool, never shrinking from hardships or sacrifices, always patient, 
but prompt ; such was the young athlete who was to play so impor- 
tant a part in the coming councils and struggles which were to decide 
the nation's destiny. 

The stamp act, oppressive burdens, and royal exactions, caused 
murmurings bitter and vengeful. Young Greene, now in the Gene- 
ral Assembly, by firm and zealous acts, by bold and unequivocal 
expressions, became the object of suspicion to the hirelings of the 
Crown. The Gaspee had been burned in Providence river, the 
king's cutter seized at Newport, the British troops were landing at 
Boston, the colonists were to be subjected to the tyranny of King- 
George or wrest themselves from the iron thraldom of his power ; 
the sound of hostile preparations was heard, and Rhode Island's sons 
waited not to be told of the coming contests. Military ardor and 
enthusiasm prevailed, militia organizations were formed, reviews 
held, martial spirit pervaded the masses ; and the hitherto sober, 
peaceful Quaker blacksmith was found chief among the active patri- 
ots, firmly declaring " his intentions to persevere in the part he had 
assumed in the cause he had embraced." The Kentish Guards, with 
whom he was enrolled, were in arms " and eager for the fray." 

The alarm that the yeomanry of New England had been attacked 
on Lexington Green, roused the colonists, and the General Assembly 
of Rhode Island raised an army of sixteen hundred men, and by 
unanimous consent placed at their head the stern, unflinching patriot, 
Nathanael Greene, with the rank of major-general. 

From May, 1775, we may date his historic career. We can only 
follow him through the rapidly transpiring events — the assembling of 
the continental forces at Cambridge, the fortifying around Boston, 
the battle of Long Island, the reverses of which were attributable to 
his sickness and absence, the battles of Trenton and Princeton, Val- 
ley Forge, the intrigues and conspiracies against the Commander-in- 



30 The Statue of Major-General JSfathanael Greene. 

Chief, against himself; his transfer to the quartermaster's depart- 
ment when provisions were almost unprocurable, transportation of 
supplies badly wanting, intrenching tools strewed along the line of 
march, suffering untold, intense, among men and animals, the public 
credit ebbing, large arrears due, heavier expenditures to come, a new 
campaign approaching, an enemy flushed with hope to encounter ; 
yet for all this, trying as were the circumstances that surrounded the 
patriot chiefs and braves, he never faltered, but stood at the side of 
the peerless Washington, encouraging and infusing all with hope — 
trusted and counseled. 

He was among the earliest advocates of absolute independence ; 
grasping the great idea of an indissoluble Union that could alone 
grow out of the Revolution upon which the colonists had entered. 
Everything hostile to such a compact he regarded as perilous to the 
interests of his country. No narrow boundary or geographical limit 
invaded his conceptions. "For my part," said he, "I am as ready to 
serve in Virginia as New England." 

The thirteen Colonies he saw already bound together in solemn 
unity ; and in a letter as early as June 4, 1775, he wrote to an emi- 
nent member of Congress, saying : 

" Permit me to recommend from the sincerity of my heart, at all times ready to 
bleed in my country's cause, a declaration of independence, and call upon the 
world and the great God who governs it to witness the necessity, propriety, and rec- 
titude thereof." 

For untiring exertion, promptitude in duty, devotion to the cause 
of liberty, breadth of capacity to perform the herculean tasks imposed 
upon him, unflinching loyalty to his country, he was the equal of all ; 
yet vindictive cabals sought his overthrow, and Congress listened to 
the appeals of conspirators who would have paralyzed the arm of a 
hero to secure the restoration of an imbecile. 

By such treatment he was goaded to a resolution to resign after the 
close of the campaign then entered upon ; but he was induced by the 
persuasive influence of his unalterable friend, Washington, to change 
his determination and accept the command of the army of the South, 
which was in his hands to be reorganized, resouled, to enter upon 
the theatre of grand events against an enemy arrogant with victory, 
famous for its discipline and energy, till now irresistible. 



Its Reception by Congress. 31 

Our forces with their allies had been routed ; Charleston had sur- 
rendered. Clinton, with his triumphs, had lured the disaffected to 
the standards of St. George, and the few scattering partisans, true 
still to the hallowed cause of liberty, were palsied and hopeless. 
Lincoln was a prisoner ; Gates defeated at Camden ; the cosmopolitan 
De Kalb slain ; discomfiture like a cloud resting upon southern hearts, 
homes and hopes. 

Washington, who believed " true friendship was a plant of slow 
growth, which must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity 
before it can be entitled to the appellation," gave his friendship and 
confidence to Greene without restriction or reserve. With such cre- 
dentials he started for his command with Steuben, the greatest disci- 
plinarian of the American army, his aid Duponceau, and Burnet 
and Morris, his own aids, leaving behind in Maryland and Delaware 
General Gist, who was to solicit and forward supplies, with these in- 
structions : 

" Let your applications be as pressing as our necessities are urgent; after which, 
if the southern States are lost, we shall be justified". 

With a sentiment like this he met his army at Charlotte, North 
Carolina ; consisting of nine hundred and seventy continentals and 
ten hundred and thirteen militia ; (in the magazines no clothing, 
arms, or ammunition ;) "two brass and several iron field-pieces;" 
eight hundred only of the soldiers properly clad or ready for service ; 
all dependent upon forced collections of food from a surrounding 
country plundered and devastated by foreign troops and equally des- 
olating - Whigs and Tories. 

With such discouragements he rose equal to the occasion. Around 
him were tried veteran officers : " Morgan, with the renown of bold 
achievements at Quebec and Saratoga ;" Lee, with his gallant legion ; 
the chivalrous Howard ; cool, courageous Williams ; the systematic 
Carrington ; the partisan Davie ; the gallant Kosciusko ; Pendleton, 
Burnet, Morris, and Pearce, with the brilliant, dashing, daring 
Marion and Sumter. 

With such a retenue of heroism he began the campaigns memora- 
ble for their deprivations, retreats, advancings, and final triumphs 
over the enemy in the Carolinas. " Mew lords and new laws pre- 



32 The Statue of Major- General Naihanael Greene. 

vailed." Historic names sprang into existence as his faithful army 
marched " to the city by the sea." 

Through the Carolinas the popular acclaim followed the guardians 
of American liberty. Eutaw Springs, Guilford Court-House, Cam- 
den, Hobkirk's Hill, Ninety-Six, were blazoned on the banners of 
the conquering legions whose prowess a Greene has made the theme 
of song and story. 

The General Assembly of South Carolina once again met at, the 
village of Jacksonborough, on the western bank of the Edisto. 
Governor Rutledge, who followed closely the fortunes of Greene and 
his army, adding efficiency and force to his achievements, now con- 
gratulating the members of the Assembly upon the close of the dire- 
ful conflict, assured them of their indebtedness to the " great and gal- 
lant Greene, by whose wisdom, prudence, address and bravery their 
deliverance had been effected," and reminded them of his claims to 
honorable and singular marks of their gratitude. Every heart 
responded to the appeal and acknowledged in fullest terms the justice 
of his claim. With my voice to-day I reecho the adulations of the 
past, and here again pronounce the faithful acknowledgements of 
Carolina's sons to the hero of Rhode Island ; who not only conceived 
an independence of the original thirteen Colonies, but dared to cut 
with his trusty sword through every obstacle that interposed, until 
the conception ripened into the birth of a glorious declaration of a 
free and independent people, whose principles are the levers of human 
advancement, the oracles of universal brotherhood, whose flag is the 
emblem of liberty, equality, fraternity, whose national domain is 
broad enough to shelter the yearning millions that are struggling to 
be free. 

We welcome the marble warrior to our classic Halls. I have 
looked with admiration upon the chiseled form of the grand old hero 
that inspires us with the spirit of our revolutionary fathers. Though 
we cannot point to the spot where his sacred ashes slumber ; though 
his grave is known only to Him whose voice can wake the dead, we 
gather round the silent statue, recount his deeds, glory in his achieve- 
ments — South Carolina and Rhode Island, the whole Republic, grate- 
ful for his memories, mindful of his virtues, boasting his illustrious 
name. 

Let us crowd the Chamber with the sentinel spirits of the times 



Its Reception by (Jongress. 33 

which tried men's souls ; and as we partake in security of the fruit of 
their valor, their sacrifice, remember the price of liberty which they 
have paid. 

Mr. Cobb, of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I shall not be able 
to say anything that has not already been better said by the gentle- 
men who have preceded me ; nor do I rise for the purpose of attempt- 
ing to add one word to the eloquent and comprehensive eulogies which 
have been pronounced upon the distinguished dead ; but I am induced 
to submit the few remarks which I now offer because the State of 
North Carolina, which I have the honor to represent in part upon this 
floor, always sensitive to her obligations, is unwilling to allow the 
present occasion, so propitious, to pass without an acknowledgment 
of the debt of gratitude which she owes to the gallant State of Rhode 
Island ; and she joins her voice to that of Rhode Island and South 
Carolina in tribute of affection and veneration to the memory of 
Nathanael Greene. 

She cannot forget to-day, nor would she forget, when Rhode Island's 
distinguished son [Mr. Jenckes] so justly claims for his State the 
glory and the heroic services of the departed chieftain, that upon her 
soil among the most brilliant and enduring of his eminent services 
were performed. She cannot forget that in the hour of her great 
calamity, in those dark days "which tried the souls of men," when 
reverses and ill fortunes had thrown a pall black as midnight about 
her horizon ; when her soil was soon to be invaded by a victorious 
army of her oppressors : when ruin, utter and irretrievable ruin and 
subjugation hung out in dismal prospective before her ; when men's 
courage began to fail and their hearts to sink within them ; Avhen 
hope itself had burnt to its socket and failed to animate or to cheer ; 
when everything seemed lost and gone forever ; when the spirit of 
resolution shrank back appalled at the overpowering force of the 
invader ; when the patriots of North Carolina had begun to fear that 
the immortal Declaration which they had flung defiantly into the teeth 
of their British tyrants that they " were and would be a free and inde- 
pendent people," was about to prove an idle boast ; then it was, in 
the hour of her emergency, that Nathanael Greene, the hero of so 
many northern victories, the patriot general who declared that he 

3 



34 The Statue of Major- General Nathanael Greene. 

"was as ready to serve in the Carolinas as in New England," came to 
her rescue, and with him brought assurance and hope and safety. 

Sir, she cannot forget that on December 2, 1780, he arrived at 
Charlotte and restored confidence to an army dispirited and discour- 
aged by the disastrous defeat at Camden ; and that by his skill, genius 
and strategy, troops undisciplined, harassed by defeats, and unpre- 
pared for war were organized and mustered and made "foemen worthy 
of British steel." She cannot forget that the first signal check mven 
to the triumphal march of the victorious Cornwallis was at Guilford 
Court-House, on March 15, 1781. She does not forget that he was 
with her people and among them until the last enemy had left her 
borders. Fresh as yesterday's events are these occurrences. Deep, 
very deep, is his memory written upon our hearts. By the side of 
her own patriotic dead North Carolina places the name of Nathanael 
Greene. Already she has embalmed it upon her records by bestow- 
ing it upon one of the rich and fertile counties of the east and the 
beautiful city of the very region where his gallantry and patriotism 
were so signally displayed. 

But it needed not these to keep him in remembrance, for through- 
out the old North State, from mountains to sea, his name is a "house- 
hold word " familiar and dear to every ear ; and wherever you find a 
true son of North Carolina, at home or abroad, proud as he may be 
and justly is of his own State and her patriots and heroes, you can 
touch a tender chord within his breast and his soul will thrill with 
enthusiasm at the mention of the name of ^Nathanael Greene, the 
saviour of North Carolina. 

And his life and history are familiar to the sons of Carolina. Old 
men and venerable, Avho had served under Gates at Camden, and who 
met Greene at Charlotte, and who followed him in his unequaled 
march through North and South Carolina ; who were with him at 
Guilford and Eutaw Springs ; who saw day after day his indomitable 
energy, his strength of will, his self-sacrificing devotion, his great 
endurance, his determination to conquer or to die, and, above all, his 
power on the battle-field — have told it to their prattling babes, as 
seated upon the paternal knee they have heard the thrilling story of 
our country's first great struggle ; and they in turn have transmitted 
to us the charge of our fathers, to keep fresh the fame of the general 
who, sent by Washington, had come South and met the gallant Corn- 



Its Reception by Congress. 35 

wallis, flushed with success, and sure of easy victory, and put him to 
rout and drove the last enemy from North Carolina. 

And, sir, when North Carolina shall forget the worth of patriot- 
ism ; when she shall forget the honor due to heroism and virtue ; 
when she shall forget the immortal men who inaugurated the great 
movement for independence at Mecklenberg Court-House, May 20, 
1775, and first proclaimed the eternal truth that "all men are free 
and equal ;" when she shall forget Guilford Court-House and Char- 
lotte ; when she shall forget the stirring events of 1780 and 1781 ; 
when she shall forget her own origin and the foundation of her pre- 
sent happiness, then, and not until then, will she fail to hold in hal- 
lowed recollection the name of Nathanael Greene. 

Mr. Speaker, the magnificent campaign of General Greene against 
Cornwallis in the Carolinas has already been justly and eloquently 
described. It would be useless repetition for me to go over it. De- 
servedly high will it stand, if not unequaled, in the history of mili- 
tary genius and strategy. With everything to discourage and nothing 
to give hope — a country dispirited and disheartened, an army disor- 
ganized and unfit for service ; half-fed, half-clad and half-paid, as 
well as half-armed — all these united to discourage a man with less 
resolution than he had, but he was equal to the emergency. He 
nobly justified the confidence which Washington had exhibited in 
sending him to the command of the army of the South after the defeat 
of General Gates. By marches and countermarches, feints and sur- 
prises, skill and strategy, he outgeneraled his British antagonist at 
every point, and electrified a country hanging in doubt and suspense, 
by the brilliancy of his movements, driving Cornwallis from the coun- 
try discomfited and his army demoralized. But the tongue of elo- 
quence has already proclaimed these achievements. 

Permit me to say a word concerning his character. His life, so 
full of stirring incident and extraordinary emergencies, without a 
single inconsistency or mean action, presents a striking, beautiful and 
harmonious whole, symmetrical as the noble statue in yonder Hall, 
and pure and spotless as the marble of which it is made. Rare, 
indeed, are the instances in which a combination of so many excel- 
lent qualities of head and heart can be found in a single individual. 
He had all the virtues, and if malignity ever detected, it has never 
exposed a vice. He had greatness without vanity. He had military 



36 The Statue of Major-General JSfathanael Greene. 

distinction and fame without being haughty or arrogant. He had 
nobleness of mind without littleness of soul. He had powerful 
strength of will and determination of purpose without being dictato- 
rial or exacting. He had learning without pedantry. He had patri- 
otism without selfishness. He had, in fine, all the moral, social and 
intellectual virtues which we admire most in a soldier, which we 
revere most in a statesman, and which we love most in a man. 
Brave and daring without being reckless, a master of military skill 
and science, he was a model general. Devoted to the cause of lib- 
erty, sacrificing home, quiet, and even etiquette, in the service of his 
country, he was a model patriot. Honest, sincere, and truthful, 
knowing and loving the truth — he was a model man. 

In each character he was preeminent, and a parallel to his life is 
oftener found upon the painted pages of the novelist than in the real- 
ities of every day. Extraordinary, indeed, must he have been of 
whom the impartial judge of men and things, Alexander Hamilton, 
could say, " that high as this great man stood in the estimation of 
his country, the whole extent of his worth was never known." No 
doubt, sir, if he had been spared longer to his country, his services 
in her councils would have equaled the renown which he gained in her 
battles ; but he was snatched away by relentless death in the full 
vio-or of manhood and strength ; and while we do not know the 
"whole extent of his worth," we know enough of him to perpetuate 
his memory ; we know enough of him to teach our children to emu- 
late his virtues and patriotism ; we know enough of him to claim him 
as one of the household gods of the nation. 

After the close of the great struggle which resulted in our liberties 
he settled in the sunny South, which he had redeemed, and dying, 
was buried there to hallow the soil which he had saved. And, sir, 
we have been told by the gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. 
Whittemore,] and reproachfully be it said, that the spot where he is 
buried is unknown. No imposing shaft stands out in bold relief to 
catch the patriot pilgrim's eye and invite him to pause awhile and 
drop a tear over the ashes of a nation's hero ; no splendid tablet, rich 
in design and elaborate in finish, spreads itself out to commemorate 
the heroism and fame of departed greatness. Too true is it that not 
even a rude head-board marks the spot where General Greene rests. 



Its Reception by Congress. 37 

But, sir, I cannot and will not believe that the dust of his body 
has ever been desecrated. I cannot believe that the foot of the plow- 
man has pressed heavily upon his grave, or that the busy hand of the 
architect and mechanic have reared above it some magnificent struc- 
ture dedicated to commerce or luxury. Nature itself would not per- 
mit the outrage. Mother earth would resent the insult to one of her 
noblest sons, and palsied would be the hand and paralyzed the foot 
that would disturb his ashes. 

The locality of his burying-place may be unknown, but methinks 
that in some lovely quiet spot by the bank of a rippling rivulet, 
where the wild flowers of the South exhale their sweetest perfume, 
and shaded by some tall and graceful elm tree symbolic of the great 
man's life and character, he sleeps ; and the merry little warblers of 
nature, catching inspiration from the scenery, perch themselves upon 
the boughs of the shade and mournfully chirrup his dirge, or anon 
breaking forth into full-throated melody, richer than cathedral ever 
dispensed, swell the chorus of his praises, and fill the air with the 
music of his renown. And the Georgia yeoman, " as he homeward 
plods his weary way," approaching the spot, turns aside to spare 
the little lily that raises its modest head as a foot-board to the 
grave — 

" How sleep the brave who sink to rest 
By all their country's wishes blest ! 
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
Returns to deck their hallowed mould, 
She there shall dress a sweeter sod 
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 

" By fairy hands their knell is rung; 
By forms unseen their dirge is sung; 
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; 
And Freedom shall awhile repair 
And dwell a weeping hermit there." 

" Dust to dust," " ashes to ashes," Mr. Speaker, is the sequel 
common to humanity ; but some men " when they die, die all ;" their 
" mouldering clay is but an emblem of their memories." Not so 
Nathanael Greene. He can never die. He will never be forgotten. 
He has " left a mark behind ;" and shall pluck the 

" Shining age from vulgar time, 
And give it whole to late posterity." 



38 The Statue of Major-General Nathanael Greene. 

And, sir, a hundred years hence, when I shall be forgotten, Mr. 
Speaker, and you only remembered by the distinguished services 
which you have rendered your country ; when this room shall have 
become too small to accommodate the thousand Eepresentatives of 
one hundred and fifty million people, who shall inhabit a Republic 
bounded by the poles and watered by four great oceans, and our Hall 
shall be converted into the " marble room " of the Capitol, filled 
with the statues of heroes, and scholars, and statesmen, not the least 
admired of them all, not the least noticed and studied and loved, 
among the many great, will be the beautiful statue of General 
Greene, which we to-day receive from the State of Rhode Island. 

Mr. Slocum. The exciting scenes through which our country 
has passed during the last ten years has undoubtedly had the effect to 
some extent at least, of withdrawing the public mind from the events 
in which General Greene performed so active and so honorable a 
part. But though to many the history of his military career may 
have been rendered somewhat less interesting by the more sanguinary 
struggles of our own day, yet there are thousands in our midst who 
now read the record of his military services, particularly of his cam- 
paign in the Carolinas, with an interest never before experienced and 
an appreciation never before felt for that ardent patriotism and heroic 
courage which enabled him with an inferior, and ill-appointed army 
to drive the British troops from those States. There are thousands 
in our country who have marched over the same fields, crossed the 
same rivers, and aided in winning victories in behalf of the same 
principles which actuated Greene and his command. These men can 
bear witness to the obstacles he was compelled to meet and overcome 
and to the deep devotion to his country by which he must have been 
inspired. 

The esteem placed by the country upon the services of General 
Greene was shown not only in words of Washington, but by the 
action of Congress, which after the Revolution voted to present to 
him two captured bronze guns, which, with a suitable inscription, 
were afterward placed in the little chapel at West Point, and which 
remain there, if I am not mistaken, to this day. 

But, sir, even the soldiers who recently campaigned over the fields 
on which General Greene won his brightest laurels, will fail to 



Its Heception by Congress. 39 

appreciate his services unless they bear in mind the embarrassments 
under which he labored. His little army was poorly clothed, seldom 
paid, and entirely destitute of many of the appointments now 
deemed necessary to an army in the field, and which, by the great 
increase in the wealth of our people and by the advancement in mil- 
itary science, were liberally supplied to all our armies during the 
late war. 

It will be difficult to find two chapters in the history of our coun- 
try which furnish such striking evidence of our advancement in pop- 
ulation, wealth, and military power, as those which tell the stories of 
Greene's and Sherman's campaigns through the Carolinas. The one, 
in the language of Mr. Lincoln — 

" Struggling to bring forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty 
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. The other testing 
whether that nation or any other nation so conceived and so dedicated can long en- 
dure." 

The former fighting in behalf of thirteen sparsely-settled colonies, 
destitute of wealth and of nearly all the appliances necessary to mil- 
itary power. His little army having no pontoon trains was often 
compelled to make long detours from its direct line of march ; and 
the telegraph and railroad being then unknown, his operations were 
often involved for days and even weeks in as much doubt and uncer- 
tainty at the headquarters of the General-in-Chief as were the 
movements of General Sherman while in the heart of the enemy's 
country. 

In our late war, although we were a divided people, each side 
placed in the field armies, single divisions of which outnumbered the 
entire army commanded by General Greene ; and such was the wealth 
and patriotism of our people that no armies were ever better supplied 
with all the appliances tending to add to the efficiency and comfort of 
the troops. 

It is fitting that the statue of one who took so prominent a part 
in our first struggle should have a place in the Capitol of his coun- 
try. While it serves to keep fresh and green the memory of his 
great services, it will also recall to mind the days when a New Eng- 
land general was welcomed by the people of the Carolinas as a de- 
liverer from oppression. 



40 The Statue of Major- General Nathanael Greene. 

May the recollection of that day and of the terrible scenes through 
which we have since passed serve to remind us and our children's chil- 
dren of the fearful harvest a nation situated as is ours is likely to reap 
from the seeds of sectional jealousy and strife which have too often 
been sown within these Halls. 

Mr. Beatty. Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank the people of Rhode 
Island for the gift which they have so appropriately and generously 
presented to the country. The value of that gift, sir, cannot be esti- 
mated by figures or represented by words. The cost of the marble, 
the incomparable skill of the artist in the execution of the work, are 
no slight indication even of its inestimable value. It is a monument to 
those sterling qualities of mind and heart which elevate men to a for- 
getfulness of self and render them only mindful of the well-being of 
their fellow-men. It is a monument to that devotion to principle and 
that faith in the ultimate triumph of the right which impel men to 
abandon the quiet of home, the delightful companionship of wife and 
children, the pleasant paths of peace, and sustain them amid priva- 
tions, dangers, and disasters. 

The statue of General Nathanael Greene, standing as it does to-day 
in the most conspicuous place on the American continent, will be to 
the youth of this Republic a perpetual reminder of what one resolved 
heart can do in the furtherance of a righteous cause. The honest, 
manly soul, staggering under difficulties, overwhelmed it may be with 
adversity, will turn from the contemplation of this beautiful effigy 
with new inspiration and renewed courage. He will be reminded that 
the man to whose honor it has been raised was poor, was cruelly 
maligned, was surrounded by difficulties, was encompassed by dan- 
gers, was overwhelmed time and again with defeat, and yet, thank 
God, was never conquered ! His fervent zeal, his indomitable ener- 
oy, his unswerving patriotism, his broad, comprehensive common 
sense and magnificent heroism, sustained and carried him triumphantly 
through all, and thus won for him not only the gratitude of his own 
countrymen, but the admiration of the world. 

By raising statues we cannot hope co benefit the dead, but we may 
hope thus to elevate the living ; and that beautiful marble, which pre- 
sents to us the face and form of a hero, by teaching the youth of our 
land the honor due to freedom's champions, by inculcating respect for 



Its Reception by Congress. 41 

the homely, manly virtues of self-denial, firmness, patriotism, perse- 
verance, and fortitude, may through succeeding generations raise up 
many sturdy patriots to defend the Republic and save it from dis- 
honor. When falsehood, selfishness, and every variety of meanness, 
bedecked with golden trappings, stalk abroad unrebuked, teaching the 
sorry lesson that honor is nothing and Avealth is everything, it is well 
for a State to hew out of solid marble the true standard of manliness 
and set it up as an enduring rebuke to this sordid spirit, and an 
encouragement to those who would rise above it to a plane of truer 
manhood and nobler usefulness. 

As we look upon this statue our thoughts revert to the commence- 
ment of our history as a nation, when the fate of a great enterprise, 
involving the fortunes of untold millions, was still enveloped in dark- 
ness. God only foresaw the end. Nathanael Greene had faith, and 
buoyed by that knightly sentiment which affirms that in a just cause 
success or failure is alike glorious, he pushed forward with a courage 
that grew on defeat, a perseverance that increased with disaster, a 
determination that would succeed or "die in the attempt." What he 
labored and suffered to attain we are so fortunate as to live to enjoy, 
and our hearts, I hope, and the hearts of all good men, I feel assured, 
go back to him and his compatriots, rejoicing over that courage and 
wisdom and rugged self-denial which secured to a great people such 
manifold benefits, and to a nation so grand a destiny. 

'• Praise to the valiant dead ! For them doth art 

Exhaust her skill their triumphs bodying forth ; 
Theirs are enshrined names, and every heart 

Shall bear the blazoned impress of their worth. 
Bright on the dreams of youth their fame shall rise, 

Their fields of fight shall epic song record ; 
And when the voice of battle rends the skies, 

Their name shall be their country's rallying word." 

The resolution was agreed to. 



CM 




PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS 



ATTENDING THE RECEPTION OF THE STATUE OF 



ajoif-fel Uathmtad €mnt, 



ARMY OF THE REVOLUTION, 



PRESENTED TO THE 



UNITED STATES FOR THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON, 



tutt ai |U)0ire fdanb. 



Printed by Order of the General Assembly. 




PROVIDENCE: 

PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY, PRINTERS TO THE STATE. 

1870. 



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